Defender
Defender is one of the most popular arcade games of the era of coin operated arcade machines. It was produced by Williams. Plot In the future an alien race known as the "Manti" attacks Earth with their relatives the Irata. Manti have been seen kidnapping humans for unknown reasons but, it is known that after a Manti grabs a human that they become more powerful. If the Manti successfully create the ultimate Mutant Army, then Earth won't stand a chance. Star-Fighters have been dispatched to Defend mankind from the enemy. Gameplay This game is a simple, yet complex, 2D sidescrolling arcade shooter. Midway, a video game designer company, made this game to help compete with other arcade video games in the 1980s. The release of this game also introduced a new video game concept for a different type of game. This game is simply a sidescrolling, moutainous landscape with multiple humanoids on the ground being attacked by multiple classes of Aliens. You fly a small one-man craft to kill alien attackers. Basic aliens actually try to grab colonists and eat them, after which they subsequently mutate and become much more erratic. If all humanoids are destroyed, the planet below you explodes, and any remaining aliens automatically mutate. It is incredibly difficult, but not impossible, to survive the mutants, and the planet will re-form. other various enemies make your short life in the game even more like hell. If you take too long to finish a level, a small, rotating flying disc enemy will follow you until you destroy the last enemy. You have the option to use hyperspace, but it is quite risky, as you could explode upon materialization. Despite not sounding difficult, it is very difficult. A typical coin-op arcade machine of Defender can be purchased nowadays for about $2,250. Enemies The enemies in Defender are known as Manti, an alien race which attacked Earth in an invasion. Each of them is capable of different feats, making them extremely dangerous. Manti *Lander - This is the basic enemy, they fire projectiles and attempt to mutate humaniods. *Mutant - A Lander after transforming. They are much fast and are focused on destroying the player. *Baiter - This object appears if the player takes too long to finish a level. It is etremely fast and targets the player. *Bomber - This enemy moves around slowly and leaves mines behind it. *Pod - This enemy burst into several Swarmers(look below) when shot. *Swarmer - Moves very quickly, dodging attacks. Very difficult to shoot. Sequels The arcade shooter Defender was succeeded by at least two succeassors, each building on what was already there. The first was ''Defender 2'', another arcade style shooter. Afterwards Defender fell from the spotlight for a while. Defender was brought into the 21st century when 7 Studios built another sequel to Defender under the same name. Available for the Nintendo Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2, and the Microsoft Xbox gaming consoles. Around the same time that the 2002 sequel to Defender was released a compilation titled Midway Arcade Treasures was released containing the two previous Defender games. Category:Games